Gaara's Moon
by BlueBastard
Summary: Gaara had never seen a more beautiful sight than that of Hinata dancing on the lake that night. However, encounters with enemy ninjas lead them down interesting paths.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

-o-o-o-

Droplets of water flew from her blue locks, arching beautifully back into the lake her nimble feet kept her above. Chakra streamed, barely visible, around each step she made. Soundless grace embodied her movements as she twirled atop the surface of the lake.

Eyes lightly shut as if in a daze, Hinata practiced her moves with an elegance befitting her years of training.

-o-o-o-

From the treeline, Gaara stood, transfixed. He had merely been on another moonlight stroll, his inability to sleep making it all that much easier for this to be a nightly routine, when he had stumbled across this hidden sanctuary. In the middle of the lake, moving as if she was a long-blue haired sprite was Hinata. The quiet shinobi who had turned down ANBU placement despite perfect scores was dancing, unseen, in the middle of the lake.

In the middle of nowhere, Gaara had come across a hidden moon Goddess. And the fact that it was Hinata made it all that more unbelievable.

Already at odds with his own nature inside, the sand jounin could do nothing but stare.

Unfortunately, the performance could not go on. Gaara barely twitched as he heard several rustles around the clearing. It appears the little shinobi was going to get more attention than she bargained for with her little dance.

-o-o-o-

Hinata was spinning into a circular crouch when she was startled out of her peaceful reverie.

As if from the very bushes themselves, black and deadly kunai sprung forth from all around the lake.

Ever since her failure in the Chuunin exams, Hinata has trained herself to become stronger, faster, and more receptive to surprise attacks. So instead of freezing like the old Hinata years ago, this long-haired beauty calmly fell into the defensive stance she had created herself through intense, self-inflicted practice. It was her own Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, a technique that stemmed from a combination of the Hyuga Clan's more powerful moves.An intricate design flared up at the lake's surface, the water turning a brilliant green from the chakra barely churning its surface. Hinata's hands were instantly transformed into deadly blades of chakra, the kunai hardly standing a chance once they were within her Byakugan's field of vision.

From the sidelines, Gaara watched with naked brow raised in surprise. She was swatting down the enemy's weapons as if they were harmless fruit flies, except at a speed that was extremely difficult for the sand nin's eyes to follow. Like a swarm, the ebony blades swathed a cutthroat path through the bushes and saplings standing between them and their target. Unblinking, the Hyuga girl stood her ground, taking down the projectiles before they could get within arms-length of her kimono-draped body. In the middle of another swarm is when six enemy ninja decide to take the battle up another notch as they hurtle towards the lone girl in the middle of the lake.

Breaking her stance, Hinata sprints from the wide open lake towards the more closely knit trees of the forest. By the time Gaara realized she was making a bee-line fore his position, she was already a couple hand-widths before him, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Gaara…?" Hinata uttered, breatheless. Was he in on the attack as well? The red-head could see the confusion and concern flit across her face before her expressions shifted once again to surprise.

The sand nin could only gape as he felt the small girl tackle him to the ground, his gourd barely rattling at this sudden move.

Dumbfounded, he lay on his back with the Hyuga girl on top, smothering him. It was only as the 'thwack' of the kunai ripping the nearby trunk into shreds reached him that Gaara realized the girl had shouted, "Watch out!"

She had saved his life.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

-o-o-o-

"Hinata-" Gaara began to growl.

"Quiet." Hinata hushed, violet eyes focused elsewhere as she scanned the forest with her Byakugan activated.

The red head blinked, taken aback. The only one who had ever spoken to him with such… fearless… words was that yammering blond shinobi back in Konoha. It was as if she didn't care how easily he could order his sand to sweep out and crush her without a thought. His green gaze took in the female nin on top of him, her fishnet shirt visible beneath the loosened kimono she wore. Strands of her hair draped from her shoulders, trailing down to his pale cheek.

Suddenly annoyed at her presence, annoyed at the fact that he was even looking at her, Gaara growled and forcibly removed her from on top of him.

Gasping at the unexpected move, Hinata stumbled to her feet, eyes snapped wide open as she looked down at Gaara. Her look of surprise was easily replaced by one of anger as she snarled, "Idiot."

Before the sand nin could even think a reply, the leaf nin was a shadow blurring into the treetops, kunai landing on the forest floor where she had stood moments before. Anger flared within the jounin, and he stood slowly, eyes focused on where the girl had gone. Immediately, kunai sought to fill the future Kazekage with pins as if he were a pincushion himself. Without the barest glance from Gaara, the sand shot up on either sides of him like a barrier, absorbing the kunai into its hardened walls. Like a tidal wave, the walls then burst out either way, taking down trees and enemy shinobi alike in its path. Not even moving his gaze, Gaara shot up into the trees, barely touching one branch before he had sprung forth again.

Far ahead, Hinata glanced back, wondering if the last of the attacking shinobi had been taken care of. She finished tying five unconscious ones around the trunk of a tree, giving the last touches with a binding jutsu. A rustle was the only warning she had before Hinata gave a shout, pain blinding her momentarily as her whole back came ablaze. An attack from behind!

Hinata staggered to her feet, throwing a glance behind her. Angry green eyes met her gaze, bloodstained hands that matched his hair resting on either trunk to either side of him.

"G…Gaara…?" Hinata uttered, confused. Before he could attack again, she took off to the trees, heading back to the Hidden Leaf village.

Gaara let her go this time, his eyes blinking as the recent happenings all sunk into his mind. Looking down at the corpse at his feet, Gaara muttered to the dead, "She thinks I threw your kunai."

Pausing to let the sands pick his hands clean of blood, Gaara stepped forward to pursue her.

-o-o-o-

Hinata nearly tore her porch door off its track as she slid it open, blood gushing at each step on the hard wood floor. The girl smirked to herself as she thought what her father would think of the mess. Forget that it was her daughter that was bleeding. 'Think of how it would make our family look', the Hyuga nin could hear his voice echoing in her head.

Forget that her mother had died protecting their village. Forget that Neji is the Clan's prodigy. Hinata was just the child her father never wanted. A girl would always be beneath his gaze since she couldn't even pass on the family name.

Hinata brushed the thoughts from her head like old cobwebs, knowing it was useless to dwell on such things. What she had to focus on now was the kunai sunk to the hilt in her back, just where she couldn't reach. As if things weren't worse enough, the party downstairs that she had escaped from just an hour ago was still going, the family members louder than usual with the help of the best sake to be found in Konoha. Just as she was wracking her brain for how she could get the kunai out, something made her look out her door to the balcony.

As if on cue, sand started spinning, the middle of the mass lumping into something more solid.

Breathing hard already from the fights and the long run with the dagger in her back, Hinata forced her body to crouch in a defensive pose.

"What do you want, Gaara?" Hinata demanded, glaring into his eyes as soon as those green orbs formed.

Once Gaara was fully formed, the sand died down, falling separately into grains on her doorway. Never taking his eyes off of her, the sand nin stepped forward, uninvited, into the female nin's room.

"I'm warning you…" Hinata purred, the threat unhidden from her tone. She still remembered when she had turned around to see Gaara there in the forest. But why? Her intellect demanded, why had he thrown the kunai at her back?

Still, since this was the slightly crazy Gaara she was dealing with, it was better not to take any chances.

Gaara was another step closer, his ebony rimmed eyes drilling holes into her soul, unnerving her with just how penetrating they could be. His silence didn't help her feel any better either. Hinata made a mental check of all her hidden weapons stashed around her room, ready to grab them if need be to defend herself. She wasn't one for killing unless forced to. And she had a feeling if it involved Gaara of the sand, she was definitely going to be forced to if it came down to a fight.

He stepped forward.

Hinata thought of her father downstairs. How disapproving he would be if Hinata trashed the room, even if it was fighting Gaara for her life. Despite everything her father had done, what he thought still mattered to her, no matter how much the thought frustrated her.

Hinata dashed forward, her goal being the door so they could take this outside. But Gaara appeared in front of her so suddenly that Hinata barely caught herself with her hands, falling back into a wall. Her violet eyes crinkled in pain as the tip of the kunai scraped against the wall, the blade in turn digging at her skin with an icy ferocity.

Gaara trapped her, a hand extended to the wall on either side of her head, still not having said a word as he just looked at her.

Hinata cringed, waiting for the inevitable. She couldn't help but gasp as she felt his sand stirring at her feet, climbing slowly up her legs. It was a strange sensation, for millions of grains to swarm up your body, your only thought being that they would soon smother the life out of you. Hinata was frozen in fear, the only memory replaying in her mind being the one where she had turned to see Gaara's bloodthirsty eyes, his hands covered in blood.

Hinata was so distracted, she had barely caught what Gaara had said.

"What?" She tried to speak, but it would only come out as a low whisper, her mind focused on the grains slowly making their way up her thighs.

"…Why?" Gaara repeated, eyes seeming to be looking far away, even as they stared into hers.

The sand was up to her waist now. And still rising.

"You…" Hinata heard, more than saw, his fist clenching as he continued to speak, his voice so low she almost couldn't catch it. Except that she could, because these just may well be the last words she heard in this existence, and right now there was nothing to distract her from it. "…saved me."

The sand was covering her elbows, pinning them to her sides as it continued its slow progression upwards.

Gaara lowered his head, catching her gaze as he repeated once more, "Why?"

Hinata was dumbfounded. The man throws her into the path of daggers and stabs her with one himself and then he has the nerve to follow her all the way over here now to ask her why she had saved his life? Anger spurred her to find her voice as she demanded, "Why did you try to kill me?"

Finally, Gaara turned to look away. At the same moment, his sand stilled, no longer moving but not coming off of her either, "I didn't…"

"Didn't what?" Hinata demanded, feeling slightly bolder due to his hesitation.

"I didn't stop the man in time." Gaara said, turning to look back at her, "I killed him… but not soon enough."

Hinata blinked, looking into his eyes. Despite what instincts were yelling at her, more than one saying to get the hell out of there, Hinata found herself believing his words. The words of what most people called a monster.

"This… is the least I could do." Gaara said softly, his voice still gruff despite the low tones.

Gaara clenched his fist and Hinata jerked in pain. But the hurt was brief, and when she opened her eyes, the sand nin had a bloody kunai in his hand. Hinata had no doubt that this was the same that had been lodged in her back a few moments ago.

The leaf nin blinked in sudden realization. So… maybe he wasn't trying to kill her at all.

Hinata blinked again.

But then if he wasn't trying to kill her then… why was she still trapped in his sand? Hinata looked up to see his face much closer to hers than she remembered, his green orbs looking at her as if trying to search her soul.

"Hinata…" Gaara breathed. The way he said her name drove a pleasant chill down Hinata's back. She shivered, not knowing what it was the crazed, yet at the present very sane, shinobi wanted.

His face inched closer, "I…"

There was a sudden knock at the door. Both shinobi tore their gazes away to look at it.

In a flash, the sand was gone, and with it Gaara as well.

Momentarily lost, Hinata stood, a little too shocked to do anything as the door slid open.

"Hinata…" Her father wavered at the door, and for a moment she feared he had seen the blood. But he simply took another gulp of whatever he held in his hands and said, "Come down to the party. The guests miss your presence."

Nodding slightly, Hinata shook herself out of shock long enough to answer, "Yes, father."

Then there was silence as her father left and shut the door.

Straightening up her appearance and wrapping silk across her shoulders to hide the blood, Hinata quickly cleaned up the mess on the floor. Making her was past the balcony, the female nin couldn't help but glance out into the night.

From his perch on a nearby tree, Gaara could see the words 'thank you' form on her lips.


End file.
